Songwriter Says Alicia Keys Owes Him Writing Credit

Alicia Keys might be facing a lawsuit over her latest single “Girl On Fire.” According to Showbiz 411, Earl Shuman says Keys lifted lyrics from “Hey There Lonely Girl,” the 1970 classic hit performed by Eddie Holman. Shuman says this has happened before as Anita Baker and Beastie Boys hand to run him his money. Now he says it’s Alicia’s turn.

Earl Shuman called me yesterday. Who is Earl Shuman? He wrote the lyrics to “Hey There Lonely Girl,” the classic hit from 1970 sung by Eddie Holman and still heard daily on oldies stations all over the world. Earl is 89 years old and very much alive and with it. He lives right here in Manhattan. And he’s unamused that Alicia Keys is singing two lines from the chorus of his song in the middle of “Girl on Fire,” her new hit. Don’t get him wrong: he likes “Girl on Fire.” He just wants to be paid for use of his song, along with the estate of his late collaborator Leon Carr.

Shuman is still writing music and very active. He’s working on a song right now with Michael Feinstein, in fact. But he’s best known for “Hey There Lonely Girl” plus, he said, many movie themes, and hit songs by the legendary Patti Page from the 1950s. He has 317 credits on the ASCAP database. He liked the word ‘lonely.’ In 1953, one of his first big big hits was “Seven Lonely Days” by Georgia Gibbs, the Taylor Swift of her day.